I Won't Let You Fade Away
by BloodyEmeraldRose
Summary: Two young children who have had difficult lives decide to climb the forbidden mountain in their village known as Mt. Ebott. Despite the scary legend that goes along with the beautiful, yet mysterious landscape, they decide it would be better to vanish then to continue living in a place where no one cares about them. Yet neither expected what they would soon discover in a lone cave.
1. Let's Leave It All Behind

(AN: I've fallen into the Undertale fandom and have unfortunately become obsessed with it, lol! xD So even though I shouldn't, I wanted to write a story with my own slight little twist. And while I do agree that Sans is awesome and I know is normally the popular choice crush wise, I'm going a different route and making the love interest Asriel instead. I couldn't help but adore the cutie the moment I saw him, and the poor thing deserves a happy ending...Also even though Chara is normally seen as a girl, I'm making them a guy in this story just because I feel it would be more interesting~ First part is short, but its just a prologue. And to anyone who stumbled across this story, I hope you enjoy. ^_^)

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"C-Chara! Wait up! Where are you going?"

Light pants left the lips of a pale skinned girl with long black hair and full bangs that had been dyed a bright pink as she followed after a boy who was rushing up a rather steep and grass covered hill.

The young boy known as Chara flipped around to glare with his rather intense red eyes at the girl who was only a year older than him. "Isn't it obvious, Iris? This hill only leads up to one place..."

Iris bit at her chapped lower lip, glancing from side to side nervously. "Mt Ebott, right...? But don't you remember the legend of the mountain? They say anyone that goes there vanishes, never to be seen or heard from again..."

"I know. That's why I'm going there," Chara muttered, ignoring the surprised look on his only friends face as he gazed at the ground, his hands balling into tight fists at his sides. "Disappearing would be better than continuing to live in this hell..."

Iris just gazed at Chara sadly, her main focus on the baggy green and cream striped sweater they wore. She was the only one to have seen the nasty bruises that had been placed on the child's body. And by his own father no less...

"I-I know it's hard...but if we told someone maybe-"

"Then maybe I'd get to stay in the _lovely _orphanage with you where I'll probably just get stuck with even worse parents? Or have to stay in that place until I'm eighteen because no one wants me?" Chara scoffed out. "If my father doesn't decide to finally kill me on the spot for telling on him, that is..."

Iris fliched and shifted awkwardly on her feet since she wasn't sure what to say, knowing Chara had a point. She had been in the orphanage ever since she was six years old. Her mother and father had died in a car crash, and having no other living relatives, she had been placed into the facility. But now at ten years old, Iris couldn't help but wonder if anyone would ever want her...?

She missed her parents dearly, but more than anything, she wanted a family. Someone that would love her and make her feel safe...Chara might never admit to it, but she knew he wanted that too.

At the feeling of someone taking her hands into their's, Iris blinked since she hadn't even noticed Chara had approached, a smile on his rosy cheeks as he stroked her knuckles with his fingers.

"We're alone in this world, Iris. No one else cares about us. We just have each other," the nine year old voiced quietly while lightly squeezing her hands. "So let's go somewhere that we don't have to rely on anyone but ourselves. Where we don't have to deal with the cruelty of other humans..."

Irises violet eyes widened since she had never considered running away from the orphanage. It wasn't like the sisters who ran the place were cruel, just very strict. Still, if she was being honest with herself, she had never been happy there...Maybe on Mt. Ebott, Chara and her could finally find some joy in their lives; could finally discover a place where they belonged.

"Okay," Iris agreed with a nod and grin. But as she continued to follow Chara up the cliff, she recalled something. "I just realized we didn't bring anything with us..."

"There's probably berries and other stuff on the mountain we can find to eat...And I have a few bars of chocolate on me," Chara said, shrugging his shoulders uncaringly. "If we need anything, we can just head back for the village and steal what we need."

Iris shook her head, placing her hands on her hips with a cute scowl. "That's stupid, Chara! Anything on the mountain might be poisonous! And we can't live on your chocolate! Not to mention we'd probably get caught if we tried to steal...!"

Chara let out a huff of irritation, using his palm to hit the midnight haired girl upside her head with and causing Iris to whine. "Stop complaining! It's annoying...Besides, we already made it to the top. But if you really want me to, I can just roll you right back down the hill if you're having second thoughts~"

Having slight tears in her eyes Iris glared at Chara, wondering why he had to be so cheeky at times? This was probably one of the reasons she was the only person who could deal with Chara at school. Most of the kids tended to avoid him, almost like they were scared of him...And it wasn't just because he had eyes like a monster. He could at times be unnecessarily cruel, but Iris believed this was only because Chara had a difficult life...Deep down, he was a good person. At least, this is what she believed.

Shaking off her thoughts and deciding to ignore Chara's comment, Iris walked to the edge of the mountain, her blue and purple eyes lighting up at the view. "So pretty! You can see everything from up here! Even the flower patch you like so much, Chara!"

Chara didn't respond to the girl's gleeful outburst, his attention more on a cave entrance. He could feel a rather cold air coming from it, and it made him shiver, yet strangely not from fear. Something felt like it was pulling him toward it. Almost like he was meant to go inside.

"Let's check this place out, Iris." Chara instructed, not giving his friend a chance to respond as he was already heading inside the dark cavern.

"Ch-Chara! Wait!" Iris cried out in exasperation, quickly running after him while she wondered why he always had to be so impetuous? It was true this cave would possibly make a great shelter for them, but Iris had never cared much for the dark and there was no telling what sort of creatures resided in the cavern.

Rolling his eyes since he could feel Iris shaking as she clung onto his arm, Chara couldn't help but wonder how deep this cave actually went? They had been walking for some time now, and it was becoming even darker. Just when he was debating on whether they should turn around, a gasp left the brown haired boy's lip as he tripped on something.

Instead of falling face first onto the ground like he thought he would, Chara could feel Iris desperately clinging onto his wrist as she was trying to pull him up.

"Wh-what's a hole doing here? D-don't worry, Chara! I won't let you fall in!" Iris exclaimed, groaning since the peach skinned boy was a lot heavier than he looked. She was just glad she had managed to catch herself before they both went tumbling down the scary hole.

Chara didn't say anything, merely peering down at the abyss. There was that feeling again. Like he was meant to proceed further into the darkness. That if he did, he would find what he had been searching for all along.

"Iris? Do you trust me?"

"H-huh? What are you talking about?!"

"Do. You. Trust. Me?"

"Yes..." Iris panted out, not really understanding why Chara was asking her such a question at a time like this.

Feeling Chara pulling himself up, Iris blinked when he was grabbing hold of the plain purple dress she wore, tugging her where they both ended up falling down. A scream left Irises lips; the boy next to her strangely silent even though they were possibly descending to their deaths. She couldn't help but wonder if she was imagining the large smile that had grown on Chara's face before Irises fear caused her to lose consciousness, and she knew no more.


	2. Meeting The Dreemurrs

(A/N: Thank you so much to those who favorited and are following this story. I'm glad you guys liked the first part. ^_^)

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Violet eyes slowly blinked open to be met with a pale blue ceiling. Irises entire form ached, but she felt as if she were lying on something soft. It didn't make any sense to the young girl at all. The last Iris remembered she had been walking through a cave with Chara before they both were falling down a hole. She should probably be dead right now or at least, laying on the ground.

Instead, she was on a rather comfy bed, and more than likely, in somebody's home. None of this made any sense to her at all.

"I'm so glad you woke up!"

At the unknown voice, Iris couldn't help but tense up, and she nervously shifted her gaze on the person the light, and childish voice had come from. Iris was met with a pair of the brightest green eyes that she had ever seen before in her life, but this wasn't what caused her to sit up rather quickly.

It was a child, but not any normal child. He was a...goat? A goat that stood on two legs and wore clothing almost eerily similar to Chara's...

"Wh-who are you?!" Iris stuttered out. She had almost asked him what was he, but she had stopped herself knowing even if she was frightened by her current situation, that would have been rude.

"Oh! You must be really confused right now!" the goat child gasped out, a shy, but friendly smile forming on his lips, a little fang sticking out of his mouth. "Howdy! My names Asriel! It's nice to meet you- Um, what's your name?"

Iris gripped onto the front of her dress as she nibbled on her lower lip. To be honest, Asriel was actually kind of cute when she thought about it. Especially when his head was tilted to the side while he was looking at her like she was the most interesting person he had ever seen before in his life.

And the feeling was mutual.

"...My names Iris. C-can you tell me where I am, Asriel? And where's Chara?" Iris asked in a meek voice, glancing around the moderate sized room where she was hoping to see her friend. He was better at dealing with weird situations like this a lot more than she was.

"Iris? Like the flower? That's pretty!" Asriel chirped out, his words causing the raven haired girl to very lightly blush in embarrassment. Though the smile that had been on his face faltered. "Your in the Underground. I found Chara and you just laying at my favorite spot in the ruins."

Asriel suddenly glanced up as if he were staring directly at the hole where he knew Chara and Iris had come from once again. "You both fell pretty far, so I'm glad the flowers broke your fall. Chara was awake so I brought him here to my house and mom is treating his injuries right now...But you wouldn't wake up, so my dad carried you here himself."

"Dad said there might be a chance you wouldn't wake up after a fall like that...So I'm really happy you did!" Asriel trailed off, having lowered his head, but he was soon looking up with a relieved expression.

Iris didn't know how to respond. At least it sounded like Chara was okay. But what was this Underground place that Asriel had mentioned?

"You and Chara are the first human's I've ever met before."

"Yeah...I've never met someone like you before either..." Iris admitted sheepishly while scratching at her pale cheek.

"You mean a monster?"

Irises pupils grew wide since it made sense now. Of course! Asriel was a monster! The war that had happened between human's and monsters was way before her time, but everyone in her village knew how human's had banished monster's from the surface world. And they had used magic to create a barrier to trap them and make sure they could never escape; an art that was completely lost to her race now.

She had always found the tale very sad. Did monsters really deserve to be forced from their world? And deep underground where they had to live in the dark...Iris had often wondered if the monsters had even managed to survive after the cruel fate that was decreed on them, but it seemed they had...

"But...how did I get past the barrier?" Iris pondered outloud, crossing her arms over her chest while she tilted her head from side to side.

"I-it's better if I let mom and dad tell you that..." Asriel spoke up in a quiet voice.

At the sound of the doorknob turning, both children perked up where Iris once again felt her body tense up in fear. Two figures were coming through the door, and they were anthropomorphic goat's just like Asriel. Yet they both were incredibly tale, taller than any human. They were truthfully a little terrfying. Especially the large male with his bulky body covered in golden armor and imposing curved horns.

"Asriel, dear. So this is where you've been," the female goat said in a kind, and rather motherly tone. "I know you're concerned about the child, but you might startle her once she awa-Oh!" The woman stopped herself when noticing that Iris was sitting up on the mattress, and she placed a hand on her chest that was covered by a dark purple robe. "I'm relieved to see that you've regained consciousness, my child. How do you feel?"

"Oh um, I feel okay. I guess..." Iris responded timidly, rubbing at the back of her head. When she saw a familiar figure walk out from behind the two monsters, Irises eyes lit up and she moved off the bed to run over to him. "Chara! I'm so glad to see you!"

The brown haired boy nodded, a small smile on his face. "For a moment there I thought you died on me. I guess you're not as weak as you look~" he trailed off rather playfully.

Iris pouted at Chara since shouldn't he be saying how happy he was that she was okay, not teasing her? Noticing that the male goat had crouched down close to the two of them, Iris couldn't help but squeak and hide behind Chara, this causing the boy to roll his red eyes.

"There's no need for you to be afraid, my child," he reassured with a deep chuckle. "We're not going to hurt you...My name is Asgore, and this is my wife, Toriel." Another chuckle left his lips seeing that Asriel had ran up to his mother who was gently running her fingers through the white wisp of fur on his head. "You've already met my son, Asriel."

Iris blinked slowly, realizing that it sounded like Asriel's mother and father had combined their own names to make his. Maybe some would find it lazy or bad naming on their part, but Iris found it to be kind of cute.

"I'm Iris. It's nice to meet you," the violet eyed girl greeted with a small smile, moving away from Chara slightly. Maybe these monsters weren't mean like she was afraid they might be. Toriel had even crouched down close to her husband where her incredibly soft paws were tracing over Irises arms where she had small scrapes and a few bruises.

"Hmm...Your body doesn't seem as injured the way Chara's body was, but you should still let me heal you," Toriel voiced gently.

Iris glanced over at Chara who was staring down at the ground, his bangs hiding his eyes, knowing most of the marks that had been on his body were ones made by his father...Yet it seemed he had kept this fact hidden from Toriel. It had taken a few years before Chara had even opened up to Iris about his difficult life...

When Iris noticed a light pink glow emanating from Toriel's hand, she gasped when it was placed on top of her head where a warm sensation spread throughout her form. Not only were the aches she felt beginning to fade, but the bruises and cuts her body had obtained from the fall were vanishing too.

"H-how did you do that?!" Iris whispered out, completely in awe.

Toriel lightly giggled at the young girl's expression, a smile forming on her muzzle. "Chara reacted almost the same way you did, though this is nothing more than a simple healing spell. Human's were quite capable of performing this encantation themselves from what I recall,"

"Not anymore. Human's are weak and only know how to use weapons or their fists to solve everything now..." Chara spoke up in a rather bitter tone.

Toriel frowned at this, sharing a look with her husband who's thick blond eyebrows had furrowed at these words. To them, it sounded like the boy held resentment toward his own kind. They couldn't understand how someone so young could even feel hatred...Unless, human's had become even more cruel than they had been in the past...

Asgore let out a gruff cough to clear the sudden stiff atmosphere before speaking. "After what the two of you have been through, I bet you've worked up an appetite. My wife makes some of the best snail pie in the entire kingdom. How would you like to try some?"

At these words, Chara stuck out his tongue while his face had grown slightly blue. "Snail pie...Yuck! That sounds really gross!"

"I have to agree with Chara..." Iris said softly, shivering at the idea of having to eat a bug.

"But snail pie is really good! You should both try it!" Asriel exclaimed with a grin, wiping at his mouth when a bit of drool leaked out.

Chara shook his head, one of his signature teasing smiles forming on his face. "Only someone weird who doesn't have any taste buds would say something like that~"

Asriel pouted at this, waving his arms up and down cutely. "Th-that's not very nice, Chara! I'm not weird!"

"Don't listen to him, Asriel. Chara's the only one here that's weird. He'd just eat chocolate if he could," Iris voiced, giving a small flick to the red eyed human's forehead and making him wince.

"No one asked for your opinion, stupid!" Chara huffed out, suddenly digging a closed fist roughly into Irises head which made the girl whine.

While Asgore looked confused, Toriel couldn't help but laugh. "I'm glad to see the three of you getting along so well," she hummed out, Asgore sending his wife a look since he wasn't certain if this is what you would exactly call 'getting along'. "If you're really so against that choice of pie, I can always make another. What about a cinnamon or butterscotch pie?"

"Cinnamon!"

"Butterscotch!"

Iris and Chara exchanged glares with each other, but grins were soon breaking out onto their faces where they cried out together, "Cinnamon and Butterscotch!"

"Cinnamon and Butterscotch it is, then." Toriel said cheerfully, surprising both children and making them blush when she was running her furred fingers through their hair. Almost like a mother would.

"For now, I'm sure you kids would like to rest. You'll be here for quite some time, so we'll prepare some rooms for you," Asgore spoke up, but noticing the narrowed eyed look his wife was suddenly sending him, he began to sweat.

Chara just shrugged his shoulders, the words he said causing both adults to look like they froze where they stood. "That's because of the barrier, right? We won't ever be able to leave this place,"

At Toriel and Asgore's shocked expressions, Iris clasped her hands together while quietly asking Chara, "I-is that true? We can't leave this place...?"

"Yes. I mean, if these guys can't leave, that mean's we can't either. Unless, the rules are different for humans?" Chara trailed off, placing a finger against the side of his mouth while his head cocked to the side in a rather innocent manner.

Toriel licked at her dry mouth, feeling stupified by this child's quick understanding of the situation he was in. Even more so, he didn't seem upset at all. "No...I mean, you are indeed correct...There's no-no way for you to leave the Underground...Aren't you...saddened by this, my children...?"

Shaking his head, Chara played with the golden heart locket he wore. "Not really. We don't have any parent's. My mother died when I was little, and Iris lost both of her parents as well in an accident...So, it's not like we have anyone to go back to..."

Asriel's long white ears seemed to droop even more when he heard these words, and he asked in a voice that could barely be made out, "T-then both of you don't have a family...?"

"N-no. We just have each other." Iris admitted in a cracked voice while staring down at her feet that were covered with a pair of black flats with little bows on them.

When tears started to form in her eyes, Iris quickly wiped at them with her arm, trying to stop herself from breaking down. It had taken her a year before she had overcome her grief, and Iris had promised herself she wouldn't cry ever again; that she'd become strong for her parents memories. Still, when realization that she was alone in this world without anyone to guide her depression would hit, and then the tears wouldn't stop.

While Chara wasn't the most affectionate person, she thought he was the one who had grabbed her hand. He sometimes would when he noticed she was scared or upset...But this one was far softer than a human's, and her still misty eyes glanced at the slightly shorter figure beside her to see that it had been Asriel. What was even more surprising, his green orbs were shimmering, almost as if he were about to start sobbing himself.

"Y-you don't have to be alone anymore! Chara and Iris can stay here with us, can't they mom? Dad?" Asriel declared, looking at his parents with still watery eyes, but a strong look of determination shone in his eyes.

To both Chara and Irises immense shock, Toriel had managed to scoop all three children into her surprisingly, strong and warm arms where she held them close to her form. And the humanoid animal said something neither child had ever expected they would hear. "Yes, my dear Asriel. Of course they may stay with us. Iris and Chara can become a part of our family."


End file.
